"With the lesser players, the jury is still out," said John Stewart, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Real estate investment trusts have also suffered. Small and mid-sized companies like Luminent Mtg Cap Inc. (Charts) and Novastar Financial Inc. (Charts), whose shares have plummeted 79 percent and 91 percent respectively year to date, face a grim future, said Donald Selkin, director of equity research at Joseph Stevens.

"The smaller ones...I'm not so optimistic," he said.

Problems with subprime loans, which are made to borrowers with weak credit, began surfacing in late February before picking up steam in the spring.

Those woes soon surfaced in other sectors and fanned fears that tighter credit conditions would slow both the stock market and economic growth.

Financials have been the most recent sector to feel the subprime pinch, including Wall Street banks such as Bear Stearns (Charts, Fortune 500). Since the collapse of its two hedge funds invested in securities backed by subprime mortgages in June, its shares have tumbled 25 percent.

Equity strategists like Stewart believe that the uncertainty which has toppled markets recently, is priced into stocks of other large financials who appear to be not directly impacted by the subprime mess.